Petroforte (formerly Riata Resources) Updates On Colombian Expansion

Vancouver, British Columbia--(November 22, 2011) - Petroforte International Ltd. ("Petroforte") (TSXV: PFI) today announced details on its Colombian expansion.  Since July when it announced the appointments of Harry Knutson as Chairman and Kevin Adair as President and CEO and a Director, Petroforte has been working diligently on a business plan for South America.

Mr. Knutson is also the Chairman of Nova Bancorp Group (Canada) Ltd., an investment company based in Vancouver.  He is currently a director of numerous oil & gas companies including Bonavista Energy Corporation, Canadian Phoenix Resources Corp., Novus Energy Inc., Pure Energy Services Ltd. and Terrex Energy Inc.  Mr. Knutson is responsible for administrative, financial and investor relations activities for Petroforte.

Mr. Adair is also President & CEO of Petrus Resources Ltd., an oil & gas company active in Canada.  Previously he was Vice President Engineering with Spry Energy Ltd., which was sold in April 2011 for $223 million.  Mr. Adair was the co-founder of Spry.  Prior to this he held a number of senior positions with oil & gas companies including Petrominerales Ltd., an oil & gas company active in Colombia.  Mr. Adair is responsible for operating, management and corporate development activities.

Today Petroforte announced the hiring of three more senior employees in Bogotá; Maria Fernanda Pena, Business Development Manager; Maria Lucia Perez, Administration & Communications Manager and Rafael Arboleda Oldenburg, QHSE & SR Manager.  Each was previously a member of the management team at Kappa Resources Colombia Ltd. ("Kappa").  In 2008 Kappa's parent was sold to Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. for US$168 million.  A fourth Kappa manager will start February 1, 2012 as Operations Manager.

The new team will report to Andrew Jones, Petroforte's Colombian Country Manager.  For the past 15 years Mr. Jones has held operating and technical positions in many countries with many Canadian and U.S. companies including Petro-Canada, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Nexen Inc., Apache Corporation, Pajak Engineering Ltd., Schlumberger Limited and Computalog Drilling Services Ltd.  Mr. Jones holds a diploma in Farm Management and Business from the University of Sydney and has numerous technical, safety and project management certifications.

Petroforte's board of directors met last week in Bogotá for the first time including five new directors who were elected at its Annual General and Special Meeting held October 18, 2011. At the board meeting, the directors approved grants under the company's stock option plan for an aggregate of 1,000,000 share purchase options to certain employees of the corporation.

Harry Knutson and Kevin Adair are joined on the board by the following new directors:

Algimantas Didziulis
Bogotá, Colombia

Mr. Didziulis has held a number of senior management positions with Canadian and international oil & gas companies including TransCanada International Colombia and Enbridge International Colombia.  He has served on the boards of Ocensa SA and CentrOriente SA.  Mr. Didziulis has a degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of the Andes and an MBA from Louisiana State University.  He also graduated from the Alternative Energy Program at Cornell University.

Alfonso Lopez
Bogotá, Colombia

Mr. Lopez has served as an Alderman, Congressman, and Senator in Bogotá.  He has served as the country's Minister of Agriculture and Minister of the Interior.  Mr. Lopez also served internationally as ambassador to Canada, France, Great Britain and Ireland.  He holds a BA from the Foreign Service School, Georgetown University, an MBA from INSEAD and a Master of Arts and Master of Philosophy in Economics from Columbia University.

Stuart McDowell
Calgary, Alberta

Mr. McDowall is a consultant based in Calgary.  Previously he held many senior management positions with the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service in many countries including Colombia.  He has been Director General of Government and Public Relations with Tailsman Energy Inc.  He served as CEO of Blue Mountain Resources Limited and Fosters Resources Limited, two international oil & gas companies.  He has also been a director of a number of public companies.  Mr. McDowall is an engineering graduate from the University of Alberta.

Hugh Ross
Calgary, Alberta

Mr. Ross is CEO and President of Novus Energy Inc., a Calgary-based oil and gas company. Previously he was President and CEO of Gentry Resources Ltd., a company he founded.  He was also founder and a director of Stratic Energy Corporation, an international oil & gas company.  Mr. Ross earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Calgary.

Mark Shilling
Calgary, Alberta

Mr. Shilling is a Chartered Accountant providing services to oil & gas companies.  He has also been an officer and director of a number of other oil & gas and investment companies including Canadian Wealth Management, Pinnacle Resources Ltd., Sugar Creek Oil and Gas Ltd. and Seventh Energy Ltd.  Mr. Shilling graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

In addition Petroforte has retained German Montoya Vélez as an advisor to the board of directors.  Mr. Montoya was the co-founder and President of PetroColombia SA, an oil & gas company. He was the founder and President of General Motors Colmotores.  He has been a director of a number of companies including TransCanada International Colombia, Caracol SA, Commerce Bank, Bavaria SA, Valores Bavaria and Transgas SA.  In addition he has been a director of a number of organizations including the Colombian Association of Petroleum and the Colombian-Canadian Chamber of Commerce.  His political and government positions included Secretary General to the President, Minister of External Relations and Ambassador to Canada.

These recent initiatives by Petroforte will allow the company to support both internal growth and growth through acquisition.  The board is committed to building an organization that will be an effective and efficient operator in South America.  Additionally it believes that mergers and acquisition activity will play a prominent role in the company's future.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to the operational and exploration activities for Petroforte, the evaluation of certain prospects in which Petroforte holds an interest, and other statements that are not historical facts.  Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur.  By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual performance and results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular; fluctuations in oil prices; the results of exploration and development drilling, recompletions and related activities; changes in environmental and other regulations; risks associated with oil and gas operations and future exploration activities; the need to obtain required approvals from regulatory authorities; product supply and demand; market competition; political and economic conditions in the country in which Petroforte operates; and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Petroforte.  You can find an additional discussion of those assumptions, risks and uncertainties in Petroforte's Canadian securities filings.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release.  Except as required by law, Petroforte disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.  Additionally, Petroforte undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.

For further information contact:

Harry Knutson
Chairman
(604) 724-3212

or

Jack Muir
(604) 891-8782

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.